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CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes

June 10, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


WINSTON-SALEM DASH (28-32) vs. WILMINGTON BLUE ROCKS (30-28)

Friday, June 10, 2011, 7:05 p.m. | BB&T Ballpark | Winston-Salem, NC

Webcast available on www.wsdash.com 15 minutes before first pitch

Game No. 61 | Home Game No. 33 | 2011 Home Record 16-16 | 2011 Road Record 12-16

RHP Cameron Bayne (5-3, 3.98) vs. RHP Tim Melville (5-6, 5.17)

No, no drama, no, no, no, no drama: After three-straight heart-pounding games to open up the series, the Pelicans took away the drama early last night, scoring four times in both the second and third innings en route to an 8-4 victory over the Dash in the series finale. Ryan Buch allowed all of the runs, with the big blast coming on Vinny DiFazio's three-run home run in the third to make an 8-1 ballgame. Winston-Salem finished its series at Myrtle Beach with a four-game split, the team's first of the season. The Dash won the first two games of the series before dropping the final two. In each of the first three games of the series, the winning team scored the decisive run(s) in its final team at bat. Winston remains seven games behind the Pelicans for first place in the division, right where it was when the series started, and its elimination number for a first half playoff spot is four.

Get the makeup ready: Tonight's game against the Wilmington Blue Rocks marks the third television broadcast of Dash baseball this season. The game can be viewed beginning at 7 p.m. on WXII's "THIS Carolina" channel, which is available on Time Warner Cable channel 121 and over-the-air on channel 12-2. THIS Carolina also broadcast the Dash's exhibition game against the Chicago White Sox on March 30 and May 20's regular season game against the Salem Red Sox. After tonight, four more games will be broadcast on THIS Carolina: Monday, July 4 vs. Salem; Friday, July 22 vs. Potomac; Friday, August 26 vs. Myrtle Beach; and Friday, September 2 vs. Salem.

Rock Talk: The Dash begin their final home stand of the season's first half tonight with a series against the Wilmington Blue Rocks. The Royals' Carolina League affiliate has dominated Winston-Salem this season, winning six out of seven matchups between the teams, including the last four. The games themselves have typically been close, with five of the Dash's losses coming by one or two runs. The Blue Rocks spent much of the first half atop the Northern Division, but have fallen on hard times as of late. Since May 27, Wilmington has lost 11 of its last 13 games, with those losses coming by an aggregate score of 66 to 19. The tumble has dropped the Rocks to six games behind Frederick for first place in the Northern Division. The Keys' magic number to eliminate Wilmington from the playoff race in the first half is five.

Coll On Me: Playing in his first game since Sunday, Kyle Colligan showed no rust last night for Winston-Salem. The Houston native walked and scored his first time up in the third inning. In the fifth inning, he took his old college teammate Barret Loux deep for his second home run of the season, a solo shot over Myrtle's seating section in left field. The home run was Colligan's first extra-base hit since his last home run, which he hit on May 16 at BB&T Ballpark. That dinger also came in a game against the Pelicans. Colligan had been hitting .160 (4 for 25) since that home run.

About Face: The differences between Ryan Buch's first two starts and last two starts with the Dash are stark. In his first two outings for Winston-Salem, Buch allowed just one run on seven hits in 12.2 total innings for an ERA of 0.71. In his last two starts, however, he has yielded 15 runs on 14 hits in ten innings for a 13.50 ERA.

I feel the need, the need for Reed: Addison Reed threw two more shutout innings last night to run his streak to seven straight appearances and 14 straight innings without allowing a run. His ERA sits at 1.59 in 28.1 innings with the Dash. Among relief pitchers in the CL, Reed is fifth in opposing batting average (.196), second in K/9 IP (12.39), first in fewest BB/9 IP (1.27), and fourth in fewest baserunners/9 IP (8.58).

Yount Up: Austin Yount continued to emerge from his season-long funk Wednesday night, reaching base all five times he batted against the Pelicans. Yount went 2 for 3 with a single, a triple, two walks, and he reached base on an error. Over his last four games, he is hitting .462 (6 for 13) to raise his season average 33 points from .176 to .209.

Lost his stripes: Jared Mitchell's seven-game hitting streak ended last night with an 0 for 4 night at the plate. The former LSU Tiger did have a sacrifice fly to give the Dash their first run, but Mitchell struck out with two runners aboard to end last night's game. During the streak, which was the longest of his young career, Mitchell hit .250 (7 for 28) with four doubles, one homer, three RBI and five runs scored.

Working Overtime: With back-to-back extra-inning contests on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Dash have played more extra-inning games than any other team in minor league baseball this season. Winston has played in 12 such games this season, five more than Myrtle Beach which is second in the Carolina League. The Dash are 7-5 when the game goes beyond regulation and are tied with Advanced-A Jupiter for the most extra-inning victories in minor league baseball in 2011.

Playing them close to the vest: The Dash have an inordinate number of close games this season, as 46 of the team's 60 games have been decided by three runs or fewer and the team has had a lead in 45 games this season. Winston has played 23 one-run games and 15 two-run games. The Dash are 11-12 in one-run games and 8-7 in two run contests. At this rate, the Dash would play 89 one- or two-run games this season.

Today's Opposing Starter: RHP Tim Melville (5-6, 5.17) makes his 12th start of the season for Wilmington and first against the Dash. He comes into this start having lost his last two outings against Kinston (5/30) and Potomac (6/1). He combined to give up 13 runs (ten earned) in 8.2 innings pitched, increasing his ERA by almost a full point (0.96). Before that, Melville won three straight starts in mid-May where he gave up only five runs (four earned) in 15.2 innings combined. Coming into the season, he was ranked by Baseball America as the 14th-best prospect in the Royals system. He split 2010 between the Arizona League Royals and Wilmington. With the Blue Rocks, Melville was 2-12 with a 4.97 ERA in 22 starts. He faced Winston-Salem four times last year, and was 0-3 with a 10.38 ERA and the Dash hit .378 against him. In three out of the four starts, Winston scored six or more runs against Melville. A Missouri native, Melville was the top high school pitching prospect entering 2008. He turned down a scholarship offer from the University of North Carolina to sign a $1.25 million bonus after the Royals selected him in the fourth round of the 08 draft. He made his professional pitching debut with Low-A Burlington in 2009, going 7-7 with a 3.79 ERA in 21 starts. He registered good strikeout numbers (96 in 97 innings) and also gave up ten home runs. Melville attended Holt HS in Wentzville, MO, the same alma mater of Washington Nationals pitcher Ross Detwiler. He throws a 92-93 mph fastball, a 12-6 curveball, and a changeup.

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